02: Don’t Lose Your Head pt. 2

“So, are you seeing anyone these days?” Cole asked casually as he placed the leftovers into separate plastic containers and stored them in the fridge. He turned to look at her when he didn’t receive an answer and Victoria simply shrugged.

“Seeing someone? Like dating? Who has time for that? If I’m not working a case, I’m on the way to court to make sure my bad guy doesn’t get away. If I’m not on trial then I’m closing out a report or flying off to another ‘breakthrough in technology’ seminar somewhere. Honestly, I tell ya, this line of work is insistent that one remains single forever.”

“Or date someone in the same line of work.”

“Right because that worked out so well for us.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like we weren’t compatible or hated being together! That was a scheduling issue.”

“Yes, and that’s the thing! Worrying about never seeing the person you’re dating because of your schedules and having to work out cuddle time or date nights. And then they are always interrupted by your office or my department. And because we have similar jobs there’s barely much that either of us wants to talk about because it’s a sad reminder of a tragic day. Then what’s worse is getting that 4am call that informs you there was some in-the-line-of-duty shootout and you’re never coming home again. That’s always fun.”

“Pessimist!”

“I am not! I’m a realist!”

“Vik, you’re…” Cole’s words were cut short at the sound of her phone vibrating against the wooden countertop. He sighed and she shrugged with a smile on her face as if the caller was proving her point.

“Carson,” she answered placing the receiver against her ear. “What? When? Where?” Cole stepped a little closer toward her side of the island as the worry in her voice increased with each question. “I’m on my way, make sure NO ONE leaves the scene and keep Mike away from this. The last thing I need is for him to do something rash that contaminates the evidence.” She dropped the phone to the counter again and turned toward the hallway.

“What happened?” Cole asked chasing her toward her bedroom. He quickly turned his back as she whipped off her top to pull on her cotton t-shirt once more. “Is everything ok?”

“No. A local businessman just discovered the body of my partner’s brother and the severed head of his sister-in-law.”

“What?” he asked peeking once over his shoulder to ensure she was decent. Victoria tapped him on the arm as she passed him pinning up her hair, letting him know it was safe to look again. “Do the police know what happened?”

“Not yet, they are still piecing it together. Only the head was found on scene so Lambert sent a patrol to the victim’s home to try and track down the rest of her.” Victoria’s eyes drew solemn for a moment as if she was saying a silent prayer for the victim and family before she turned in haste back toward her kitchen.

Scooping up her cell phone and keys she started for the door, locking it behind Cole. “Thanks for dinner...breakfast. I really do appreciate you stopping by with that and the information about Bonanno.”

“Anytime. So, since I know you’re probably gonna pull an all-nighter, nothing unusual there, I guess I should ask you now if you think you’ll be available for lunch or dinner later on? I want to see you later.” Cole tugged at the sleeve of his shirt as he felt her eyes scanning his face. Nervously he touched the back of his neck and laughed lightly at the slight awkwardness of the moment. “If you’re busy then it’s no big deal. I was just hoping to discuss the Fowler thing with you when you got a moment,” he lied hoping to ease the tension he’d caused.

“Uh yeah, sure lunch would be fine.”

“Ok uh, P.F. Chang’s on the waterfront? Say 2?”

“Cole, someone seriously has to introduce you to more than just Oriental cuisine. Sure, P.F Chang’s it is.”

“Great, I’ll see you later this afternoon then. Oh, and if you need anything, call me?” he gestured to his ear and received a nod of agreement in return. Opening her jeep door for her, he watched as she turned the ignition and waited until her taillights faded down the street before sauntering to his own vehicle.

Victoria thought long and hard about what she would discover once she arrived on scene but what she saw changed her mind about quickly wrapping this up for Mike’s sake. She parked her car on the curb behind a cruiser and hurried toward the tape. With her badge in hand, Victoria bypassed the small group of officers standing in front of a vacant lot with their arms extended to keep the growing crowd at bay.

“Move back, move back,” a burly patrolman was growling at the throng of reporters and bystanders. She ducked beneath the lines of yellow caution tape roping off the crime scene with a heavy heart, taking in the expressions of the officers already on scene. As she approached the door leading into the warehouse and the medical examiner, her eyes immediately fell on the white sheet stained in blood covering the body.

Wordlessly she prepared herself for the reveal, knelt beside the body and took a deep breath. With a simple nod, the M.E. gripped the sheet by the hem and slowly peeled it back revealing the lifeless body of the 33-year-old man. He was resting beside the head of his wife and it appeared she had been badly burned before the beheading took place.

Victoria stood, looked at the Medical Examiner and waited. They had worked together on numerous cases before that a simple look wordlessly conveyed the questions that had not yet been spoken. “It was a professional hit from what I can tell. Three shots, double tap to the chest, one to the head. The vic died where he fell.”

“Nothing appears disturbed on scene. We could hazard a guess that he was surprised by his attacker’s little gift and perhaps fell there to the ground beside it before being executed,” Victoria added. “Who was the first on the scene?” she asked as she placed the sheet back over the body. “Who made the discovery?”

“Walter Nelson, part owner of the warehouse. Says he was coming in to check on his shipments and found his friend lying there dead. He immediately ran out and dialed 9-1-1. He doesn’t appear to have been involved, but he agreed to come down to the station and answer some questions.”

“Patrol find the rest of her body?”

“Not yet. Wherever she was killed it wasn’t at her home. No signs of a fire on her property so they are checking her job and the last place her friends saw her.” Victoria took another look around the room as the M.E.’s team moved in for photographs and at her signal prepared to move the body to the morgue. “I’ll call you once ballistics does their thing. We should know more by then.”

“Thank you, Marie,” she nodded and stepped around the body heading toward the back of the warehouse where a small group of officers held their witness. 

“So much blood. How could anyone do that to him? He would never have harmed a soul.”

“Excuse me, why is he being questioned when he isn’t at the house yet?”

“He was in shock. He just started sputtering his story and so we decided to write what he said and then take him down.”

Victoria sighed in exasperation and pushed herself to the front of the men. “Sir? I’m Detective Carson with the Avondale Police Department. I understand you were the first on scene, you discovered the victim?”

“So much blood. How could anyone…?”

“Yes. Sir, if you don’t mind, an officer is going to escort you down to our station so we can conduct our interview there.” The man turned with a wide-eyed glare toward Victoria and nodded his consent. “Get him into interview room 1 and make sure he gets what he needs to compose himself.” One of the officers took Mr. Nelson by the arm and guided him to the back of his cruiser.

Victoria continued looking around the small lot. Crates stacked to the ceiling had a U.S. Customs seal of approval stickered to their sides and appeared untouched since their arrival to the unit. Nearby a workstation complete with a computer sat beneath a tiny window. Victoria noticed the blinking yellow light indicated the equipment was on but in sleep mode. Removing a small handkerchief from her pocket, she wrapped an end over her finger, tapped the escape key on the keyboard and waited for the computer to awaken.

The monitor flickered before a bright white glow buzzed from the 20” frame. She leaned forward very carefully and used the arrow keys to guide herself down the page looking over the last thing the victim was probably working on before he met his end. “Whatcha got?” Detective Don Franklin asked as he joined her against the back wall.

“Shipping invoices it would seem. What is this place used for?”

“Not sure. We weren’t able to get much from the guy before he cracked. Hopefully he can tell us more back at the station.” She nodded and backed away at the sounds of yelling just outside the door.

“That’s my brother! I want to see him! Let me see him!” She reached the door just in time as Mike had pushed his way past officers and into the warehouse.

“Mike, wait.”

“Get out of my way, Vik!”

“Mike, listen to me, be reasonable. This is a crime scene and anything you do near that body might contaminate whatever evidence has been left behind. She frowned seeing the mud caked on his black boots and kept her hands on his shoulders holding him back. “He is being transported to the morgue now where you can see him and make a positive ID when the time comes.” Mike groaned deep in his throat, jerked against her hold once again before slowly calming down and nodding.  

He knew she was right. If he wanted to solve this thing quickly, he had to be able to allow the techs on scene to do their job. Victoria ushered him toward a small bench beside a patrol car and he dropped to the wooden planks, burying his head in his hands. “He was my kid brother. Sure, he had his share of bad luck but…”

“Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to see him harmed?” Mike shook his head no as he stared off into the distance. The spinning of blue and red lights blurred behind his eyes and he choked back a set of tears as he thought about his brother’s body lying helpless on the ground just a few feet away. “Do you have any idea what your brother did for a living?”

“A little bit of this a little bit of that. I know he had always wanted to start his own business. Something to do with restoration; cars, I think. He didn’t have any real career. He did whatever work he could find to support himself and his…Sunny! Where’s his daughter? Has there been any word on her?” Victoria’s eyes opened in surprise and she motioned for the on-scene Sergeant. This was the first time she’d heard anything about a child involved and no one had mentioned her when they arrived at the victim’s home.

“Is the patrol done at the house?” she asked of Sergeant Lambert.

“They are just pulling away now. Why?”

“Did they find a little girl on the premises? Any sign of a child at all?”

“Geez, can this night get any worse? First, I get a missing patrol car in the area when I send someone out to that place and now this?” He grabbed the walkie on his hip and waited for dispatch to come in. “We need an Amber Alert for a missing…”

“Seven.”

“Seven-year-old child named…,” Lambert handed the walkie to Mike to let him complete the alert.

“Tina Rizzitello. She’s about 4’4” tall, 50 pounds, strawberry blonde hair and green eyes.”

“What did you mean there’s a missing patrol car?” Victoria asked as Mike went over the details with dispatch.

“Turner and Briggs. I sent them out to the house when we first arrived on scene and haven’t heard back from them. I sent Aimes and Wilson right after.”

“And hurry!” Victoria turned as Mike finished the call and gave him a look of assurance.

“We’ll find her.”

“I’m not waiting on that,” he tossed the walkie back to the Sergeant and started for his car.

“Mike, wait.”

“No, Vik! Now you’ve convinced me that you have this scene under control and will do what you have to for my brother but you can’t honestly expect me to just sit around and hope for the best where my niece is concerned! She is out there somewhere, possibly with the same people who just murdered her parents and I am going to find her! Now you can either come with me or stay the hell out of my way!”

She followed each of his steps with her eyes as he stomped through the crowds toward his red pickup. Sighing with frustration she zipped past the lines of people standing behind the streams of yellow tape and hopped into the passenger seat beside her partner. “Just try not to throw me too much around the cab.” He smirked slightly at her jab about his driving, tossed the key in the ignition and sped from the scene.

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